[Remote] Principal AI Engineer

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Robots & Pencils is a company focused on designing AI systems for a human world. They are seeking a Principal AI Engineer to define and drive the technical direction of AI/ML systems, leading complex system design and implementation challenges while partnering with leadership to shape the AI roadmap.ResponsibilitiesDefine AI architecture and technical strategy, and lead implementation across the full lifecycle from design through productionBuild scalable ML platforms, pipelines, and workflow orchestration that support model development and event-driven, asynchronous operations at scale (e.g., SQS, EventBridge)Architect and build LLM-powered systems, including prompt engineering, function/tool calling, multi-agent orchestration, RAG patterns, vector databases, embeddings, and streaming responsesDesign and develop APIs and backend services that integrate AI capabilities with enterprise systems and third-party platformsLead model development, optimization, and the path from research to production, ensuring promising approaches translate into reliable, production-ready systemsEnsure AI reliability, security, and scalability across deployed systems, including logging, monitoring, and debugging in production environmentsBring an AI-forward mindset to your daily work, using tools like Claude, Cursor, and other modern AI assistants to ship higher-quality work at paceCo-define the AI roadmap with leadership, operating as a peer in strategic technical conversationsCommunicate complex technical concepts clearly to engineering and non-engineering stakeholders alike, translating depth into decisions others can act onEngage with product, engineering, and data teams to align AI work with broader business prioritiesDefine and champion AI engineering standards that shape how the organization builds and operates AI systemsMentor across the organization, shaping engineering culture and developing the next generation of technical leadersOwn high-stakes architectural decisions that carry significant organizational and cross-engagement weightDrive technical vision — defining not just what gets built, but how AI engineering evolves at R&P over timeSkills7+ years of experience in AI/ML engineeringStrong proficiency in PythonStrong software engineering background, including system design, API design, code quality, and strong unit testing practicesExperience designing and working with distributed systems and event-driven architecturesExpertise in MLOps and AI infrastructure, including model versioning, monitoring, deployment automation, and reproducibilityExperience with Amazon Quick, ServiceNow integration, Jira integration, AWS Bedrock, Agentic AI/ML (prompt engineering, agent development), Natural language querying / analyticsStrong stakeholder communication skills, with the ability to translate technical depth across audiencesIn-depth experience with AWS, especially AWS GenAI offering; working knowledge of other cloud platformsFamiliarity with both SQL and NoSQL databases, including scalable design patternsExperience with workflow orchestration tools and asynchronous system operationsHands-on experience with LLM systems, including prompt engineering, function/tool calling, multi-agent orchestration, RAG architectures, vector databases, embeddings, and streaming LLM responsesExperience with containerization (e.g., Docker) and cloud-native AI architecture patternsExposure to AI governance and compliance considerations in production environmentsCompany OverviewAn Applied AI Engineering Partner building AI systems designed for enterprise velocity and measurable business impact. It was founded in 2009, and is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, CAN, with a workforce of 51-200 employees. Its website is https://robotsandpencils.com/.Company H1B SponsorshipRobots & Pencils has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships, with 1 in 2025, 1 in 2022, 1 in 2021. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role.